The regional investment program for 2024 has been approved in Vitebsk
The Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, emphasized that, despite it being the last working day of the year, the issue submitted for the session's consideration – the approval of the investment program and budget adjustment – is important. Funds will be redistributed for the development of the social sphere, agriculture, and the economy. Similar measures will be carried out in the regions of the oblast, which will allow for a clearer outline of the development for the upcoming year.
It should be noted that on December 26, at a regular session of the Regional Council of Deputies, the oblast budget in the amount of 4.5 billion rubles was approved, and the main approaches to its formation were endorsed.
– The budget draft includes funds for the implementation and continuation of all state program activities. The social orientation of the budget is maintained. In 2024, it is planned to allocate 64% of the total expenditure to the social sphere, and in cities and districts, this figure reaches up to 80%, – emphasized the head of the main financial department of the oblast executive committee, Gennady Grebnev.
The budget traditionally provides funds for financing all sectors of the economy that ensure the population's livelihood. These include passenger transport, maintenance and repair of roads, streets, major repairs of housing stock, etc.
At the session, the adjusted budget was finally approved, taking into account received revenues and gratuitous receipts from the republican budget. The possibility was found to additionally allocate resources to support passenger transport, local road management, and agricultural producers, to whom approximately 6 million rubles were allocated (these funds will be used for preparation for spring field work, purchase of fertilizers, and equipment repair).
Regarding major events, such as the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia, the Ministry of Finance allocated an additional 65 million rubles to planned appropriations when forming the budget's estimated indicators. These funds are used to prepare specific facilities that will be involved in the forum. In particular, this includes the reconstruction of the "Vitebsk" cultural and business center (about 10 million rubles) and the "Vitebsk" hotel.
In general, the main source of budget revenue replenishment is the stable operation of the economy and enterprises, timely and full payment of tax and non-tax payments, and increased efficiency. This, in turn, will lead to an increase in profits and profit tax deductions, higher wages, and increased income tax, emphasized Gennady Grebnev. Therefore, the joint effective work of all sectors and authorities will allow attracting additional funds and directing them to finance activities that were not accounted for during budget approval for various reasons.
The investment program of the Vitebsk region for 2024 has been developed for three years, noted Alexander Nefedov, acting chairman of the committee for architecture and construction of the regional executive committee, and it provides for the financing of construction of facilities, including those included in the program in previous years.
In total, the program outlines 286 facilities, for the construction of which 252.5 million rubles are planned to be allocated.
What's new this year? For the first time, transport support facilities have been included. For example, in Vitebsk on M. Gorky Street, the track infrastructure and contact network will be replaced, and design and estimate documentation for an automatic washing and treatment facility for the tram depot is being developed.
The investment program, like the budget, has a social focus. Great attention is paid to further increasing housing construction volumes and providing residential areas with kindergartens, sports facilities, etc.
For example, 134.6 million rubles are allocated to the housing and communal services and construction sector. The construction of more than 90 engineering and transport infrastructure facilities is planned for residential areas and new street gas pipelines for the gasification of housing stock (91.7 million rubles), 19 housing construction facilities (19.8 million rubles), and 57 water supply and sanitation facilities (6.3 million rubles).
More than 13 million rubles are allocated to the education sector for the completion of the construction of a kindergarten in Lepel and the reconstruction of an extension to Secondary School No. 2 named after A. Dubosarsky in Shumilino, and a dormitory on Tereshkova Street in Vitebsk. This includes funding for the reconstruction of the canteen of the Polotsk psychoneurological boarding school and the reconstruction of the Alexandrovsky boarding school for the elderly and disabled in Sharkovshchinsky District (4.4 million rubles).
In addition, funds are allocated from the regional budget for the development of documentation and restoration of the former governor's palace in Vitebsk, the construction of a multifunctional sports complex in the regional center, and the construction of a sports and recreation complex in Polotsk.
It is planned to complete the construction of a kindergarten in Lepel, a dormitory for athletes in the urban-type settlement of Ushachi, and the ski-roller track of the Vitebsk School of Olympic Reserve. Two family-type houses will be built in Vitebsk and Postavy.
"Vitebskiye Vesti"